


Unfortunate Circumstances

by to_oth



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: 7 birds are all roommates, Action, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background blupjeans - Freeform, College!AU, Demon!AU, Humor, Kidnapping, M/M, Possession, Supernatural Elements, but not really, elements of enemies to lovers, idk ghost stuff, kinda spooky too, shared body, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-12-27 06:04:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21113921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/to_oth/pseuds/to_oth
Summary: Due to some very unfortunate circumstances the demon Kravitz loses his corporal form, his weapon and his powers all at once. He needs to possess an unsuspecting line cook to help him find the people who did it and make them pay.





	1. Impromptu Rave in the Streets

Something was up

Taako didn’t know what it was yet, but he knew something was going on. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. He could _feel _something was up. 

It could be the years of living alone with just him and his sister that made him paranoid but being cautious never hurt anyone. He slowed his pace down and took a look behind his shoulder. No one seemed to be following him. He seemed to be all alone on the sidewalk. It was dark outside, and only the streetlights illuminated his way.

Taako strained to hear anyone around him. Nothing. _He actually couldn’t hear anything_. It was strangely silent. Neverwinter was usually so loud with the sounds of cars, sirens, and the thrums of people everywhere. But in the moment Taako could only hear his own heartbeat as it started to pound.

Weird.

He picked up the pace, his bus stop was only 3 blocks away, once he was on his way home he could relax and let go of the uneasy feeling he had. A cool breeze blew down the street and goosebumps started to form on his arm. He wished that he had brought the jacket that Merle told him to put on before he left the house.

Taako passed an empty alleyway and in a blink the streetlight above him flickered out. He looked around and strained his eyes to try to see in the dark. 

Movement in the alleyway turned Taakos attention, he paused and looked down the alleyway. Although only one streetlight had gone out, he could barely see down it. He wasn’t sure if it was a trick of his eyes but Taako could _almost_ make out a figure at the end of it. 

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but everything was feeling really _spooky._

Despite his better judgement to just _keep moving _he reached for his phone to use the flashlight. If he could just make sure that the damn alleyway was empty it would satisfy his curiosity and he could leave.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned the flashlight on. He waved it around the alleyway. As far as he could tell the alleyway was empty except for a couple large garbage containers but that was it.

Satisfied he put is phone back into his pocket and continued to walk. He only got a couple steps before the whole row of streetlights flickered out down the block ahead of him. He was now completely surrounded by darkness. Taako moved to pull his phone out of his pocket again to use the light the rest of his way to his bus stop.

It was _weird_. But he was in a rundown area of the city so a few streetlights breaking all at once didn’t seem too unreasonable. Maybe the powerline for the lights went out, he reasoned with himself.

Before he could pull his phone out of his pocket, the row of streetlights above him rapidly flickered on and off again. It was like he was surrounded by strobe lights at a rave. The rapid flashing made him dizzy. It was all happening so quickly he could barely process what he was seeing.

He could suddenly hear footsteps in the alleyway, and they were coming closer towards him. In the odd silence the sound footsteps echoed around him. He couldn’t see anyone in the alleyway though, but it was difficult to tell with the flickering streetlights.

That was enough freaky shit to make Taako start sprinting toward the bus stop. He was not going to stay long enough to find out who or what was in the alleyway.

He didn’t relax as he reached the next block were there was working streetlights, and he didn’t stop running until he reached his bus stop.

His loud stomping footsteps startled an old woman waiting for the bus and Taako panted out an apology as he tried to catch his breath. The woman just glared at him and didn’t reply. 

Now that he was at the bus stop, he could hear the sounds of the city again. He could hear the traffic down the road, a siren ringing out in the distance, and the general noise of people around him. The chill was gone and Taako felt the warm night air again on his skin, which was now a sweaty from running.

He looked behind him a couple blocks down and the dead streetlights flickered back to life again. The flickering was gone, and they all held steady light. He couldn’t see a person at the streetlight either, he wondered who the footsteps belonged to.

“Did you see those lights?” He asked the old woman.

“What lights, what’re talking about?” She said. 

“The streetlights, back there, they were flickering. Did you see that?” He explained.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, no lights were flickering,” she answered. She pulled out some newspaper and started to read, signalling that she was done talking to him. Taako took the hint and stopped questioning her.

It was as if nothing happened. It was as if he imagined it.

_It felt weird. It felt wrong._

He pushed down the uneasy feeling as his bus arrived. He got on the bus, showed the driver his student pass and took a seat.

The silence, the crazy flickering streetlights, the cold, and the footsteps he heard. It all felt _off_. He was sure it wasn’t his imagination, but he couldn’t think of an explanation for all of it. Weird stuff just happened to Taako, but nothing quite like that. 

Taako wondered if he should bring it up to Lup or not. Now that he was away from the situation, he felt a little silly getting so worked up and running away like that. It really did just feel so creepy and unusual in the moment. He was sure Lup would tease him about it if he told her, and he didn’t need to give her extra material. She would probably say that he was getting haunted.

Or worse, she would take his concerns seriously and insist that she walk him to and from work from then on.

Taako sighed and put his headphones on as he waited for the bus to reach his stop. He was exhausted from going to class all day and then needing to work right after. He also hadn’t been getting much sleep lately, and maybe it was the lack of sleep making him loopy, he reasoned with himself.

He leaned his head back and thought about how he should try going to bed earlier that night. It wasn’t long before the bus arrived at his stop.

~~~

Taako entered his bedroom and Lup was already there waiting for him. She was laying on his bed messing around on her phone and laughing to herself. She looked up at him as he entered.

“How was your shift?” She asked

“Shit as always” Taako replied, dropping his backpack to the floor and flopping down on top her. She laughed and groaned in response but doesn’t push him off.

“The head cook is still a dick. He is seriously still insisting we call him _chef_. Being head cook at an Olive Garden doesn’t make you a fucking chef, let’s get some standards people!” Taako said.

Lup laughed and Taako could feel the vibrations in her chest. It was nice being back home with Lup. Since they were both so busy with school it was hard for them to just hangout. Spending time with his sister like this just recharged his batteries.

“What’s his name again? Brian?” She asked.

“Nah Brian is the dishwasher he’s pretty chill, I’m talking about Greg.” he answered.

“I’ve always hated the name Greg,” Lup said matter-of-factly.

Taako grabbed her phone from off the bed to snoop what she had been laughing at, “is it because that kid from elementary school who always had warts on his foot was named Greg?” 

“That’s not the only reason!” Lup groaned grabbing her phone back and pushing Taako off of her, “I’ve just never met a normal Greg. They’re all weird or mean.” She moved off the bed and stood up. “Anyways you stink of garlic bread, go shower smelly” she emphasized her point by plugging her nose as she turned and left the room.

Taako sniffed his uniform and yeah it did stink of garlic and sweat. He was a little worried he might be becoming nose blind to the smell because he hadn’t noticed until just then. He grabbed a towel and headed towards the bathroom that he shared with Lup. 

The house they lived in was old but well taken care of. It was definitely cheaper than living on campus. He and Lup had been living here since they started college as the rent was cheap and it was a close enough commute to school.

Those reasons made it so most of their roommates where college students as well. There were 7 of them living there, including the landlord Davenport. He was a pretty chill dude and he was a pilot, so he wasn’t actually at the house that often. Then there was Merle, he apparently lived here to get away from his estranged wife. He worked at the Neverwinter University Hospital as a nurse. He was a weird old man who’s obsessed with plants but Taako has grown to like him. The rest of them, Barry, Lucretia and Magnus were all college students as well.

Under the hot spray of the shower Taako thought about what happened near the bus stop. He still felt uneasy about it. The stillness and silence was so … _off._ He couldn’t find the right words for how he felt. The weirdest part was definitely the streetlights getting wack as all hell. He didn’t know a lot about streetlights, but he was positive they shouldn’t do that.

As he stepped out of the shower and moisturized his face, he decided not to worry about it anymore. It was a one-time weird supernatural experience and he will never have to think about it ever again.

He put on a pair of comfy pajamas and ran a comb through his long hair. It was almost the weekend, and it was even a weekend he had off work. He just needed to get through one more day of class and work and then he could relax and laze around for a couple days. He walked towards the kitchen but paused when he heard the sound of his sister laughing.

Taako slowly peaked around the corner and into the kitchen. He could see Lup and Barry laughing and definitely flirting. She told him that she and Barry were just friends, but she was a damn liar by the look of it. Taako could tell that his sister was crushing hard even though she wouldn’t admit it. He already knew how much Barry liked her, as if it wasn’t already obvious to everyone around them. Even then Barry was blushing so hard he looked like he had a fever and Taako almost thought that it was endearing. _Almost._

“Hey lovebirds,” he said as he burst into the room smiling. His grin grew wider when Lup glared at him, “how’s it going?”

Barry coughed and spluttered in surprise and it took a lot of willpower for Taako not to laugh in his face.

“Uh, hey Taako, I’m doing pretty good, uhm how was work bud?” Barry asked.

“Lame and stinky,” Taako sighed and grabbed the leftovers Lup had warmed up for him. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until now. “How was … whatever you spend your time doing?”

Barry laughed a little and said, “Well uh, Lup and I were working on our lab report, so it’s been pretty good, have you and Robbie finished yours?”

Taako groaned, “ugh I almost forgot, I need to go threaten Robbie to make sure he does his half of the report this time. I’m still mad at you for stealing my sister _Barold_.”

“You know we were assigned partners Taako it wasn’t my decision” Barry said.

“Sure, like I’m gonna believe that” he turned to Lup, “what do you have to say for yourself, abandoning me for someone who only has one outfit like some kind of cartoon character.”

“Sorry Taako I couldn’t handle your messy handwriting anymore I had to do what was best for me” she leaned over the counter and flicked his forehead “and be nice to Barry, at least he can coordinate an outfit.”

Taako rubbed his stinging forehead where she flicked him and said “how dare you insult the way I dress when you have basically stolen half my closet”

Lup laughed and shrugged, “twin privileges I guess.”

Taako moved to flick her forehead too, but she ducked out of the way before he could make contact.

He finished up his food and put his dishes away, “are we still doing movie night? It’s getting kind of late” he asked thinking he should at least _try_ going to bed early.

As if on cue Magnus walked into the kitchen, “of course we’re stilling movie night, c’mon you guys we’ve been waiting in the living room forever! And you can’t ditch this time Taako,” making sure he wouldn’t run away Magnus even wrapped and arm around him.

“Ugh get off me ya big lug, I won’t ditch!” Taako complained as he tried to wiggle out of Magnus’ grasp.

Lup and Barry grabbed chips and other snacks and Taako escaped Magnus and grabbed some cookies from his secret stash and they headed into the living room together.

Taako took the seat beside Lucretia on one the couches, which forced Lup and Barry to sit together on the last free couch. Lup elbowed him as she passed by, but she still smiled wide when Barry took the seat next to her.

Taako tried to grab a handful of the gummy candies that Lucretia was holding but she slapped his hand away. Lucretia laid her hand out, motioning silently to “pay up”. Taako rolled his eyes dramatically but handed her a couple cookies. She smiled and gave him a handful of the candies in return.

It was Magnus’ turn to pick the movie and he chose some dumb action comedy and Taako kind of expected to just sleep through it. It ended up being too loud to sleep through, but it was the right kind of stupid that they all had a good time making fun of it. They spent the rest of the night eating snacks and poking fun of the characters and plot holes. Taako was warm and comfortable and he was little bit closer to forgetting the weird incident he had that night.

~~~

Taako woke up to a blaring alarm and groaned. He always stayed up way too late for his morning classes. He turned off his alarm and seriously considered if he should just skip and go back to sleep. Before he could put any real thought into skipping Lup burst into his room and turned the lights on.

“I already know what you’re thinking Taako, get up we have an exam today you can’t skip,” she said as she walked across his room to his closet and started shuffling through his clothes.

That got Taako’s attention, “wait – what? What exam? Which class?” he said in a rush.

“Just kidding,” she said with a grin, “just wanted to help you get out of bed,” she laughed and walked out of his room with one of his shirts, dodging the pillow that Taako threw in her direction.

Taako looked back at his bed, despite how tempting it was to go back to sleep he started to get ready for school.

He tied his long hair back into a braid and got dressed. He grabbed his backpack and headed to the kitchen. Lup got him up early enough that he had enough time to make a proper breakfast for once. He even had enough time to make enough for everyone else in the house. They all ate together, and Taako would never say it out loud but he loved mornings like this. They’re all too tired to talk much but they still sit around together. He mused on how _nice _it felt, it was domestic and homey and _stable. _Things that he and Lup missed out on for most of their lives. The people in the house were loud, messy, and weird but he wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

Taako also liked Friday’s for two reasons: 1) All the students in the house started around the same time so they could just carpool together, so no public transit for Taako. And 2) he had half-days on Fridays, it really was a saving grace.

Most of Taako’s classes were with Barry and Lup. He didn’t know what compelled him to also major in the sciences, but it sucked. It was something to do though and Taako didn’t want to think about what would happen to him after graduation. The idea of going to back to school to get his masters made him want to just _give up, drop out, and become a hermit. _

He was still only a third year. He didn’t have to write a thesis _yet. _He could just take his classes and not think about it.

Taako’s classes passed by in a blur. He didn’t really pay attention in them; he was honestly just messing around on social media half the time. He thankfully had no labs on Fridays this semester, but he did take the time to bully Robbie into doing his half of the lab report.

Taako’s classes ended and he headed towards work again. He only had to work the dinner rush and then he could leave. He and Lup were both on scholarships but Taako liked to work still because the chance of him losing his was higher than he would’ve liked. It wasn’t that he was a bad student, he was just apathetic. Going through the motions of learning, no real plan for the future in mind. Taako wasn’t built to study, not like Lup was. He preferred to work with his hands, to do something practical. He liked the labs, but he spent more time writing lab reports than doing actual lab work. It wasn’t that Taako couldn’t work hard at it, but it was more that he _didn’t want to. _But he wasn’t sure what else he _could do_.

Taako was pulled from his thoughts when he passed the alleyway from the night before. It wasn’t any less creepy in the daytime. It wasn’t even really an alleyway, more of a dead end. There were walls of surrounding buildings on all sides.

Currently it was being blocked off by police tape and police cruisers. Taako’s curiosity got the better of him and he slowed his pace to try and get a better look.

He strained to see but there was too much commotion. He got a chilly feeling in gut; something wasn’t right there but he couldn’t pin down why.

“Move along, we’re trying to conduct an investigation here,” a tired sounding police officer said, probably sick of telling nosey bystanders to stop gawking at the scene.

“Can you tell me what happened here?” Taako asked. 

“Nothing confirmed at the moment, as I said we’re still investigating, so please keep moving” the officer replied.

Taako tried to get another peak, he thought he could almost see blood splatter across one of the old building walls. He got chills down his spine and kept moving. He started to debate whether it would be worth the money to get an Uber back home after his shift. Walking back there in the dark again is that last thing he wanted to do.

Thankfully he didn’t have to, because Magnus sent him a cryptic text that just read _“incoming”_ right as Taako’s shift ended. Taako walked outside the back door of the Olive Garden he worked at and looked around the parking lot.

Magnus’ car pulled up in the parking lot with Merle in the passenger seat and Barry in the back.

“Get in the car! It’s boys night!” Magnus shouted.

“Boys night?” Taako asked as he got into the backseat.

“Yeah Lup and Lucretia are off hanging out so it’s the perfect time for the boys to hangout” Magnus turned to him grinning. 

It was hard to be annoyed with Magnus when he is so enthusiastic, but somehow Taako managed it. He rolled his eyes at them and yawned, “Ugh okay, I guess. Thanks for the ride I really don’t think I would have survived if I took the bus again.”

“Hey! None of that,” Magnus snapped, he leaned over to the backseat and pulled out one of the bottles of booze they must have picked up on the way and waved it around, “Taako we are having fun tonight, you’re not going to bed right away.”

Taako forced out another yawn back as a reply, this one louder and with more _drama_. Magnus laughed and started driving home.

Merle somehow figured out how to connect his phone to the auxiliary cord of Magnus’ car and started to play some Kenny Chesney song. The song played for exactly 3 seconds before everyone in the car collectively groaned and Magnus switched it to the radio.

Taako got comfortable in the back of the car and pulled out his phone. He did not feel like hanging out that night, but they took the time to come pick him up, and he couldn’t come up with an excuse to get out of it.

He browsed on his phone for a little and pulled up Facebook. He only used it to stalk people and yell at Robbie over Messenger because he refused to give him his actual phone number.

He paused when he noticed that someone shared a link to a recent missing persons case. He clicked on the article and skimmed it quickly. His heart started to pound as he read it. The missing person was a young woman, Noelle Redcheek. She had gone missing last night; she was last seen when she had gone to throw out the garbage outside her family’s brewery.

The address of her family’s brewery was right beside that damn alleyway. It was even around the same time that Taako had gotten off work. It explained why there were so many police in that area.

The uneasy feeling in his gut got bigger. The incident had to be connected somehow, it couldn’t have been just some weird coincidence, right?

The night before replayed in his mind. Taako couldn’t see or hear anything or anyone, except for some footsteps. If there was a kidnapping, then it must have happened after he left. He doesn’t have any explanation for the impromptu strobe lights though,

It felt weird. _He felt weird about it_. He wondered if there was anything he could have done to help her. It wasn’t like Taako saw anything happen, but he noticed something weird was going on. Even if he _had_ seen something it wasn’t like he could fight off a kidnapper. He was just _some guy_; he didn’t know how to fight. He knew how survive in tough circumstances, but he was never one to get in a real fight.

He tried to think about it again. It was a stupid thought and he might have been spending too much time with Barry, but it almost made him think that something _supernatural_ was going on. Maybe he was getting haunted, or there was an angry spirit on the loose kidnapping people. He wasn’t sure why his first thought was ghosts, but it was easier to think about a supernatural entity doing this rather than a real-life dangerous person.

He felt conflicted about running away. Running may have been the smart idea, and it kept _him_ safe. Taako didn’t regret running away but his chest tightened when he looked at the picture of Noelle again. She was young, close to his age, she had bright red hair and freckled cheeks.

It probably wasn’t ghosts. He was _probably _not getting haunted. Taako had good senses, he could’ve just probably sensed that there was danger in the area and then he got out of there. That was _probably_ it.

They arrived at the house and Taako is pulled from his thoughts. He helped them carry the snacks and drinks inside. Doing whatever constituted as a “boys night” is really the last thing he wanted to do at the moment, but maybe if he got drunk it would help him take his mind off things.

“So, what do you boys have planned” Taako asked, as he poured himself a glass of cheap wine.

“Uhm we can play video games? Haven’t really thought of a concrete plan yet but boys night is all about going with the _flow_” Magnus said. And that was fair Taako could get with drinking and playing games.

They piled into the living room and got the game consoles out.

“Where is Davenport? Is he not included in boys night?” Taako asked.

“His flight got transferred, so he’s coming back tomorrow. You boys are only stuck with one old man tonight!” Merle said.

For a while it was fun. Taako was able to take his mind off things as they fought and raced each other. It was loud, they were all shouting over one another, but it was comfortable and Taako was able to lose himself in it.

Taako and Barry teamed up until Magnus started to whine that Merle didn’t even know how to play properly. Which was true, Merle was notorious for not knowing how to play, but it didn’t stop Taako feeling satisfied every time he mercilessly killed Merle’s characters.

But the night he had yesterday, the missing persons case, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. It was still nagging him as they stopped playing games for a while and moved to the kitchen to eat more snacks.

Taako tuned out whatever weird, but heated conversation Merle and Magnus were having and thought about the night before.

He should at least stop ignoring it happened. It was not going away and now Taako felt like maybe if he could just come up with a _semi-reasonable_ answer, he would be satisfied that he was not going crazy.

He guessed that his first plan of action should be ruling out the supernatural. He barely believed in that stuff, but it was stupid and something to focus on, and he knew _exactly_ who he should ask about it.

When Taako discovered that Barry Bluejeans was _obsessed with the occult_ it was probably one of the best moments in his life, as sad as that sounded. He found out first year of college and it absolutely changed his opinion of Barry. Taako had thought that he was just another lame awkward nerd, but when he found out that he was an awkward nerd who was obsessed with ghosts and supernatural phenomena it just made him so much cooler, or lamer, depending on the day.

Taako wanted to laugh when he remembered the incident, he had walked into Barry’s room asking about getting some notes he had missed when he had caught Barry trying to summon a spirit or something, lit candles and chalk pentagram on the floor and _everything_. Barry had been completely red in the face when he yelled at Taako to _get out_ and _knock next time _and _it was just for research purposes he only wanted to see if he could do it!_

Taako really started to like Barry then.

Which is why Taako, wine glass in hand plopped down at one of the kitchen island highchairs beside Barry. He sipped his wine and tried to think of a casual way to _bring up ghosts_.

“Barry my man, can we talk?” he started with, still trying to decide how he should go about it.

“Well that fills me with anxiety, but go on,” Barry replied.

“Listen, I uh don’t know how to put this but I think I encountered something … let’s say _supernatural_” Taako said. He was already cringing inside, but he needed to finish what he started so he kept going, “and I need some, let’s say, _advice_ on it.”

Barry looked at him quizzically, he probably wasn’t expecting that to be the topic that Taako wanted to talk about, “okay sure, can you elaborate a little?” he asked.

Taako felt dumb. He was already regretting bringing this up, but it was too late now. He took a large gulp of wine and continued, “Listen my man, I don’t know exactly what happened either but the best way I can explain it is that … last night on my way home from work I got some real _heebie jeebies_ from this alleyway, first it got real cold and very quiet. Like eerily quiet. Then the fucking streetlights all started to flicker on and off. It was like I was in a full-on horror movie. I can’t explain it, it was so weird.” He paused, he felt very silly saying out loud, but Barry thankfully didn’t look like he was going to laugh at him.

Barry actually placed a hand on Taako’s shoulder and said, “Hey I’m not going to make fun of you if that’s what you’re thinking, you can keep going.”

Taako sighed and continued, “I did hear footsteps, I couldn’t see anyone because of the flickering lights though. The footsteps sounded so loud, too loud.”

“That does sound pretty freaky” Barry said plainly.

“Yes, and the _worst part_ is today when I was on my way to work, I passed by the same alleyway and there were police everywhere, it was a _crime scene_. I just have a weird feeling about it. What are the chances of a crime happening in that alleyway where all that other stuff happened too? It’s not a coincidence Barry, I hate to say it, but I think I’m getting haunted, or something is going on” Taako said in a rush.

Barry paused for a moment to really consider what Taako said. Bless this man for taking Taako seriously. If he had laughed in his face about this Taako would either kill himself or kill Barry … or both.

“I’m not sure if you’re getting haunted per se Taako, do you know what happened in the alleyway? What kind of crime was it?” Barry asked.

Before Taako could answer Magnus loudly asked, “Taako’s getting haunted?!” 

Everyone was now paying attention to him; Merle even turned down his shitty Kenny Chesney track so he might hear his reply better.

“Oh my god, read the room Magnus. I didn’t know you were proficient in eavesdropping too” Taako said dryly. He didn’t need the boner squad knowing about his _possible_ haunting.

Barry sighed, “no one’s getting haunted Magnus, Taako we can try something to see if you have any bad spirit energy on you or something?”

Taako turned to look Barry incredulously, “I’m sorry what?! Bad spirit energy? The reason all that stuff happened might be because of some bad spirit juju? Did someone curse me?"

“Taako what’s going on? Is something bothering you” Merle asked him.

Taako realized there was no running away from the mess he just needed to admit everything and get it over with, “I think I'm haunted” he said nonchalantly.

“Since when?” Merle asked.

“Yesterday” Taako replied.

“Hmm that sucks” Merle shrugged but offered him the bottle of wine so Taako could refill his glass.

“Thank you for the words of encouragement” Taako said as he sat down. He was starting to accept that he couldn’t just peace out of the situation. 

“He may or may to be haunted, bu-ut” Barry paused probably for dramatic effect, “I might have a way to figure it out!” he said excitedly.

Merle stood up and looked at them, “if you’re doing _another seance_ count me out you _weird kids_” and headed towards the living room.

“That’s okay we still have enough people without you Merle, and it’s not a seance” Barry stood up, “C’mon Taako I don’t doubt something weird happened to you yesterday, let’s just see if we can figure out why”

Magnus faced Barry, “Is this just an excuse for all of us to do a seance Barry?” He said.

“Not a seance Mags” Barry replied back

Magnus laughed and said, “Guys this is cool I wanna see if Taako is haunted or not, _see_ this is what boys night can do!"

Taako fully believed that this would not help him in any way. But seeing Barry getting excited by the idea of all of them doing a seance or something was not something he could pass up. He couldn’t wait to talk about this to Lup later.

He downed the wine in his glass and refilled his glass again, he wanted to be _at least_ buzzed for this, “Fine Barold do what you want, if I get possessed, I’ll have your head man”

Taako didn’t know what forces in his life lead him to be pulled into these ridiculous situations, but there he was, helping Barry and Magnus move furniture around in Barry’s bedroom so that they could have room for whatever Barry had in mind. 

“So, are we gonna like, get a Ouija board or something” Magnus asked

“Magnus” Barry sighed, “those things are fake, this is the real deal” he grinned and started to draw a pentagram design on the hardwood of his bedroom floor.

Taako thought that it was kind of pretty in a way. There were a lot of intricate details and symbols that he was unfamiliar with.

“So, what exactly are we doing?” Taako asked as he watched Barry draw.

“Like I said before, I can ask the spirits around to see if they notice anything wrong around here, or if they’ve noticed any supernatural events happen since yesterday, or notice anything weird about you” Barry replied, setting up pretty red candles around each of the 5 points of the pentagram.

“So … it’s like a fancy Ouija board then?” Magnus laughed and Barry ignored him. 

Taako was glad that Davenport was currently halfway around the world flying because he thinks this might actually be grounds for eviction.

Barry lit the candles one by one, and he then instructed them to each sit around the circle. He then turned off the light and so that the candles were the only things that illuminated the room.

Barry pulled out some old book from his bookshelf and took a seat on the floor with them. Taako resisted the urge to make fun of him for just having a collection of occult books on his bookshelf, since Barry was taking this very seriously and also doing this _for Taako_. But god, Barry was such a _weird nerd_. 

Barry cleared his throat, “Ah-hem, okay I’m ready. Everyone grab the hand of the person beside you, and then close your eyes.”

Taako set down his wine glass in front of him and sat cross-legged. He grabbed Barry and Magnus’ hands. He watched as the shadows from the flickering candles danced across Barry’s face as he began to read the book out loud. It was a language Taako didn’t recognize. Taako closed his eyes and faced his head down. It felt very silly, but no one laughed. Barry continued to mumble words Taako didn’t understand under his breath and he and Magnus stayed quiet waiting to see what would happen next.

Barry stopped mumbling and everyone was silent for a moment.

“Spirits are you here? Show yourself to us” Barry said.

And then _he felt it again._

_Something was up. Something wasn’t right. _

There was a sudden chill in the room. Taako snapped his head up and looked around at his roommates. He couldn’t tell if they felt it too or not. Everyone was still acting normally, so Taako pushed down the uneasy feeling he had and closed his eyes again.

“Yeah spirits, c’mon out and tell us if Taako is cursed,” Magnus said, he was grinning wide and seemed to be really enjoying this. Everyone else was acting like nothing was wrong.

_But something was wrong._ Takko felt, _he didn’t know_, maybe a _presence_ or something. He at least thought that it was the same thing as before. His gut was telling him to run away again.

“Magnus shut up please,” Barry reprimanded him. Taako would have laughed if he hadn’t felt so tense.

He opened his eyes again and looked around, everyone was still acting normally. He could even see Magnus holding back laughter as Barry continued to mumble.

Taako wasn’t sure if should tell Barry to stop or not. It seemed like he was the only person that was noticing something wasn’t right.

The candles blew to one side as if there was a strong breeze in the room, but they were inside and there was no draft. Taako felt even colder than before, and he could only hear his heart pounding in his head.

The light from the candles started flicker on and off, as if the real flames were electronic. It was the same strobing effect as the night before. Taako looked at his roommates again, neither of them have noticed what was going on.

“Wait! Do you guys see-” Taako was cut off as he felt a searing pain go through his head. It was gone as soon as it arrived.

Taako felt panicked from the sudden pain and stumbled upright, knocking his wine glass over. He took a step back and felt the searing pain in his head again. It felt like an overwhelming headache and it took his breath away.

Taako looked down to see the red wine he spilt wash away some of the chalk lines that Barry drew.

And then he saw nothing as his vision cut out and he lost consciousness.


	2. Meeting the Man of Your Dreams

Taako’s hearing came back to him first. He could hear Merle assuring someone that _he would be fine he just fainted._

He opened his eyes and saw Lup above him. His heart panged, she looked worried and scared and he never wanted to see her look that way because of him.

He poked at the furrow in her brow. “If you keep looking like that you’re gonna get wrinkles.” He said. 

She laughed and slapped his hand away before she hugged him tightly. “Did boys night get too rowdy for you? I never knew you were this afraid of ghosts. I would have used it against you sooner.”

“I’m not afraid of ghosts dummy” Taako said as he rubbed his forehead, it still felt sore from his random headache earlier. He looked around and he was still on Barry’s bedroom floor, but the wine and chalk and candles had all been cleaned up. Everyone was looking down at him worried.

“Sup guys, I uh, don’t know what happened there” Taako said honestly.

He remembered clearly the panic he had felt right before he collapsed, but he didn’t want to bring it up again, especially right after he had just fainted in front of everyone. If weird shit continued to happen, he’d find a reason for it later. For now, he just wanted to sleep.

“I think it’s just been a long week and I’m just tired, I just need some R 'n R ya know?” he said, and he meant it. His head was starting to hurt again, and he was feeling drained, as if he hadn’t slept in days.

“Are you sure you’re okay man?” Magnus asked.

“Just peachy my dude, I dunno why that happened but whatevs I guess,” He shrugged. He didn’t have a reason for fainting, and when he thought about it, it might’ve been the first time in his life that he collapsed like that.

“Let me see your eyes Taako before you go to sleep, I need to make sure you don’t have a concussion,” Merle said, and he walked over with a light and shined them into Taako’s eyes.

Satisfied that he wasn’t concussed Merle nodded and let Taako get up. Taako took Lup’s hand and she helped him up. Now that he was fully upright Taako’s head was pounding, it wasn’t the same searing pain as before but there was still a dull ache. It made him dizzy. He waved off everyone’s concern and started to head to his bedroom.

Lup followed him to his room and watched as he tucked himself under the covers. Once he was settled, she handed him a glass of water. “Ko, are you sure you’re alright?”

Taako sighed and took the glass from her, he took a sip and said, “I’m fine. It’s just been a long day and I need some shut eye.”

She nodded and ruffled his hair before turning and leaving his room, closing the door softly behind her.

Taako relaxed into his bed. Now that he was laying down again, he really did feel exhausted. For once he was able to easily drift off to into sleep.

~~~  
Taako slipped in and out of dreams as he slept. They were getting progressively weirder as the night went on until he found himself dreaming of a blank dark room.

Everything was non-descript, it wasn’t really a room and more of just a space. Taako could hear a voice yelling from a distance.

The volume of the voice was getting louder and louder but Taako still couldn’t make out the words even as it echoed through the space.

He felt a cold rush of wind on his skin and like he was surfacing water he could hear properly again, and the muffled voice became clear.

It sounded mad.

“Wake up! Wake up oh my gods you have to wake up. What kind of mortal sleeps this long anyway?” The cockney voice sounded pissed but Taako didn’t understand what it meant.

He tried to move but it was as if he didn’t have a body. He tried to say something, to tell the voice to shup up and stop being a dick, but he didn’t have a voice to speak with.

The disembodied voice continued, “Why did it have to be this mortal, why couldn’t it have been someone a little more competent?”

Taako is annoyed now, how would this dumb voice know whether he’s competent or not.

Before he could try to tell the voice to fuck off the dream faded into nothing and Taako left the space he was in.

~~~

He knew he was dreaming now, and it was nice. Taako rarely remembered his dreams and it was even more rare that he lucid dreamed.

Now he was sitting on a hill in a beautiful green pasture. It was warm and sunny out.  
He sighed in content as he laid back on the grass and stretched. He could have spent hours like that, just sunbathing like a lazy cat. It was so peaceful. He could hear the sounds of nature around him, he listened to the sound of the breeze as it fluttered the long green blades of grass, the distant birds chirping, the buzzing of bugs around him. He hadn’t heard these sounds since he moved into the city, it felt nostalgic. It felt nice.

He was interrupted by a dark figure looming above him. It blocked out the sunlight and covered Taako in shade.

Taako peered up to see a handsome dark-haired man, his long dreads pulled up in a bun. He had a strong jawline, beautiful prominent cheekbones, and dark blood-red eyes, which were glaring at him.

“Why won’t you wake up? Is this a new thing mortals do or are you just a particularly lazy one?” And it was the voice again, now that it was attached to a person Taako could appreciate how nice it sounded, even with the accent. Except for the fact that it was being a dick.

“I dunno dude, you’re being a dick” Taako said as he rolled away from him, so he was out of the man’s shadow and back in the sunlight.

The man just spluttered in shock by his answer. He scrunched up his face in anger and Taako resisted the urge to laugh in it.

“Listen. I need you to wake up right now. Are you dead? Is it healthy for you to be sleeping this long?” The man side stepped to block out Taako’s sunlight again.

“You listen!” Taako sat up and glared back at the man, “I don’t have control of how long I sleep okay! I can’t just wake myself up! Just chill out, it’ll happen eventually.”

“I’m sure if you actually tried, you’d be able to wake yourself up.” The man said through gritted teeth.

Taako waved his arms around and said, “Oooohh wake up sleeping Taako, an angry man wants you to wake up for no reason” when nothing happened, he flipped off the man and laid back down on the grass. “Well that was that my man, I can’t do it.” He rolled away from the man’s shadow once more, hoping he’d get the hint and leave him alone.

The man glared at him even more, “Listen I’m in a hurry. If you’re not going to cooperate, I’ll just force you to wake up.”

“Whatever. I don’t care anymore, do whatever floats your fucking boat my man.” And that was not the right thing to say because the man grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Taako didn’t know if he had no strength since it was a dream or if the man was just really strong, but he was easily able to throw Taako over his shoulder.

Taako pounded his fists at the man’s back as he tried to break free, but the man had a tight grip on him, “What the fuck are you doing?!” He slapped his hands against the man’s back with every word, “Let. Me. Fucking. Go!”

“Quit struggling so much. I gave you a chance, now we have to do this the hard way” the man replied, completely ignoring Taako’s punches, as if they didn’t bother him at all.

The man started to just _fly_ upwards rapidly. Taako stopped struggling to look below him, the green pasture they were in was getting smaller and smaller with each passing second.

“You can fly? What? W-what the fuck are you doing?” Taako asked.

“Oh, you’ll see” the man replied and Taako could hear the smugness in the man’s voice. It made him feel uneasy.

They were so high up that the green pasture below was just a small square in Taako’s vision.

“Why did you grab me? What are we doin-?” his question was cut short as the man unceremoniously dropped him.

Taako fell fast. The wind blew so hard in his face that he could barely breath. He forgot that he was dreaming it felt so _real_. His stomach was churning, and he could feel the tears as they streamed past his cheeks. He wasn’t able to do anything but fall.

He was getting closer now, the small green pasture was rapidly getting larger in his vision.

Just as he was about to make impact he woke up.

~~~

Taako sprung from his pillow with a sharp gasp. His heart was still racing, and his stomach was twisted in a way that made him feel sick. He touched his face to make sure that he was really awake and back in reality.

Satisfied he wasn’t dreaming anymore and that he was still alive he grabbed his phone off his bedside table and checked the time, it was 3:15 pm. He felt shocked. It was probably around 1 am-ish when he fell asleep, but he couldn’t believe he actually slept for 13 hours. He didn’t feel tired anymore though, for the first time in weeks he felt well rested.

It might have been worth it to waste most of the day sleeping. Taako moved to get up and out of bed, now that he finally had energy, he could get some chores he had been putting off done. He decided to start with laundry as it was all over his floor.

Maybe all the weird things that had been happening to him were just weird sleep deprived hallucinations.

He got out of bed and started to collect the clothes on the floor, when he finally realized he wasn’t alone in his room.

Leaning against the wall in the corner of the room near his closet was the man from Taako’s dreams just waiting for Taako to notice him.

Taako’s mind short circuited. He didn’t understand what was happening to him, so he did what his first instincts told him to do; _scream and throw things_. “What the fuck?! Who are you? Get out of my fucking room!” Taako shouted as he threw the dirty t-shirt he was holding at the man.

The man stood up straight and took a step towards him. “Now calm down, we don’t need any of that.” He was still as handsome as Taako remembered from his _dreams_, and that was a weird thought, because the pretentious person-dropping asshole from Taako’s dreams was in his bedroom. Like he was a real person, in reality, and not like a _dream-person_. It didn’t make sense.

Taako kept throwing dirty laundry, a bunched-up pair of dirty socks hit the man square in the face, “don’t you dare take another step closer, what are you doing here? Who are you?”

“Were those dirty? That’s disgusting” the man complained but at least he stopped moving towards him.

Before Taako could shout some more Lup burst through his door, “Taako why are you screaming? What’s happening?” she said in a rush as she moved toward him.

“Lup careful! There’s a man right there!” Taako said as he moved away from his bed and toward his sister, putting himself in between her and the strange man.

Lup just stared at him blankly, “What? Where? Taako what are you talking about”

“What do you mean? Right there,” he pointed to the corner of his room where the man was standing, “you don’t see him?”

Lup faced him and gently placed a hand against his forehead, “Hm, you’re not burning up, are you seeing things Ko? I don’t see anyone in this room but us.”

Taako’s heart sunk. “You really don’t see anyone in the corner of my room?” He asked again. He didn’t want to believe that he was going crazy but seeing people who weren’t there is crazy as crazy gets.

She looked at him with concern in her eyes and stepped away from him to walk toward the corner of his room. Taako reaches out to grab her and hold her back away from the man when _she walked through him, like he was a fucking ghost or something._

Taako felt dumbfounded. He looked at Lup and then at the man, who shrugged and smiled. If Lup couldn’t see or feel the man, then he didn’t want to act any crazier by insisting that there was one.

“There isn’t anyone here Taako, are you okay?” She asked.

“Ah, uh well … I might have still been dreaming, maybe? Why’d you let me sleep so long anyway?” He was ready to drop this and change the subject. Whatever was happening he didn’t want Lup to be any more involved in it.

“Are you sure that’s it Taako? You’ve been acting weird lately. And trust me we tried to wake you up, but you wouldn’t budge, Lucretia even has pictures of us stacking books on top of you,” she laughed a little at that. Taako would normally be indignant and demand to see the pictures but he couldn’t stop the feeling of dread building up inside of him. Something weird was happening in his life, and Taako had the feeling that whatever it was it wasn’t going to be good.

“I have been feeling weird, maybe because I had some of Robbie’s homemade kombucha last night,” Taako lied. He hated lying to his sister.

“What the – why would you put anything that Robbie made inside your body?” She looked at him incredulously.

“C’mon you know me, I’m a slut for kombucha” Taako laughed and hoped that it didn’t sound too forced.

“Mhmm, I think I remember you telling me that kombucha tasted like carbonated toilet water”

“A man can change, can’t he?”

She walked over to where he was standing and gave him a tight hug, “Taako are you sure that’s it? Is there something else going on?” She asked again. He hugged her back tightly, but his eyes never left the man standing in the corner.

Who stared back at Taako and taped his wrist, urging him to hurry things up. Taako got the message. He didn’t want Lup to get caught up in this mess.  
“Of course, Lulu.” He answered and wished there was a way to explain things to her, but he didn’t even know what was going on himself. “I don’t know maybe I just haven’t been getting enough sleep”

“Well maybe you should consider getting less evening shifts?”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. but hey I’ll be okay. I’m no longer hallucinating. I’ll catch up with you guys later? I need to get some laundry done or I’ll have to start stealing my clothes back”

“Well we don’t want that do we?” She squeezed him and whispered, “you’ll tell me if anything is wrong right?”

“You’ll always be the first to know"

“Do you still see someone else in your room?” She asked.

Taako glanced back over to the man in the corner. He wanted to say _yes unfortunately I think your almost-boyfriend summoned an angry spirit into this house who is hell-bent on terrorizing me, he’s still in the corner and you just walked through him_, but he resisted. Instead he said, “Nah, it’s just you and me in here.”

“Okay, well I’m glad you’re not finally having a psychotic break,” she laughed and Taako laughed too, even though he thought that it might be exactly what was happening to him. Lup continued, "we are probably going to go out to watch a movie around 7 if you feel up to it, let me know.”

She left the room and Taako closed the door behind her.

He turned around and unfortunately the man was still there.

“Are you going to stop throwing your dirty laundry at me and yelling?” The man said as he put his hands up, gesturing that he didn’t mean any harm,

“For now, so tell me, are you a ghost? Or did I hit my head last night and this is a hallucination caused by my poor hemorrhaging brain.” Taako asked dryly. He didn’t know which answered he preferred.

“Uh neither I think. I promise I’m not here to hurt you, I’ll explain everything,” the man said in a rush. Taako was surprised to hear that he didn’t have the cockney accent anymore.

“Want to start with that accent? Are you even British?” Taako asked.

“Oh? I must have dropped it, I uh, can keep it this way if you want?” the man said nervously.

Taako laughed despite himself, because just like that the man’s intimidating demeanour fell and now he was asking Taako if he should drop fake accent or not.

“Yeah like, just talk normally man, why bother having a fake accent that’s so weird” Taako laughed.

“I have my reasons, now, uh, let me explain” the man glanced around Taako’s bedroom and pointed to his desk chair, “do you mind if we sit and talk about this?” Taako took a seat on his bed and faced the man, he waved his hand signalling the man to get on with explaining.

“So, let’s start with introductions, my name is Kravitz” he held out his hand for Taako to shake.

Taako was curious whether he could touch Kravitz or if his hand would just phase through it like Lup did. He took it and it was shockingly cold and solid.

“Oh boy, that’s a cold one. My names Taako.” He said. The more he talked to Kravitz the more questions he had, like how he got into Taako’s dreams, was he the reason he fainted last night, and why was he so cold. He decided to let Kravitz try to explain first.

“Okay I’ll just explain everything now …” Kravitz paused for a second as he thought about how to word things properly, “I’m what you’d call a demon, its not what we call ourselves, but that word is the closest thing I can get in this language.”

“A … demon?” Taako asked, he briefly wondered if he really did get into an accident and this is medically induced coma nightmare.

“Yes. Like I said that’s my best explanation, I come from another realm, I have powers mortals don’t have and I need to be summoned to enter this realm.” Kravitz elaborated. “And I grant wishes in exchange for a human soul-” Kravitz said before Taako cut him off.

“Uh my dude you sound like a genie,” Taako laughed.

Kravitz looked offended, “I’m not a genie Taako, I’m actually a very esteemed demon.”

“Okay whatever you are what does that have to do with me? Why are you here?” Taako asked.

“I’m trying to explain if you would just stop cutting me off,” Kravitz said curtly, “okay, so, my power as a demon was stored in my weapon and my body. Somehow the last time I was summoned my weapon, my body, my powers, were all stolen.”

“How do you even lose a body? Are you not attached to it?” Taako asked. Even the explanation wasn’t making sense. Nothing in this situation had any reason to it.

“There were some unfortunate circumstances that led me to losing my powers, and yes I guess that’s one way to put it, I’m not really attached to the body that forms when I’m in this realm” Kravitz explained and his tone was annoyed. Taako thought that maybe a nicer person would feel a little bad. He doesn’t. If anything, he enjoyed seeing Kravitz get frustrated with him, it was payback.

"All I have at the moment is this loose corporeal form that is attached to you. Which is why you can see and feel me and no one else can. I just need your help getting my body back, I already used so much of my spiritual energy attaching myself to you I can’t do this again with another mortal” Kravitz said.

"You spent your energy possessing me? What the - why?” Taako spluttered.

“You were the first one I saw?” Kravitz shrugged.

“I was the first one you saw,” Taako repeated what Kravitz said, barely believing it. “That’s how you chose someone to possess? You do realize that the other people in the room were one of the buffest meatheads I’ve ever met and a ghost-fanboy. Either one of them would have been a better choice than me.”

“Well I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it okay,” Kravitz said defensively. "I promise I will be able to make it worth your while, when we get my weapon back, I will grant you any wish and you won’t have to exchange your soul for it!”

"I’m good I don’t have any wishes” Taako answered back quickly. That was true. Taako wasn’t one to wish for things. He especially wasn’t one to risk his neck out for a demon in exchange for one.

“Please listen, I know I sound like I’m giving you a choice but I'm not. I can’t leave my attachment to you, why’d you put a spirit circle in your home anyway? Didn’t you want this?” Kravitz asked. Taako could hear the desperation in his voice and he begun to feel a little bad. Having nothing and being put in desperate situations was something Taako could unfortunately relate to.

“We were just supposed to talk, I think. I had no intention of getting possessed. I just wanted to know what happened last night!” Taako said. Barry did end up getting him possessed, Taako was going to drown the guy, he didn’t care how much Lup liked him.

“Maybe I can still help with that Taako. I know this isn’t ideal and trust me if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be doing this. But I can’t let these people mess around with powers … this powerful! I have no idea what they could be up to, but they need to be stopped." Kravitz said.

"You can’t leave until you get your powers back, can you?” Taako asked. He couldn’t believe he was actually considering helping a demon.

“No, not really. I would expend the rest of spirit energy doing that and without my scythe I would be no better than a ghost” Kravitz answered.

Taako groaned, "so ghosts are real too.”

Kravitz lips turned in a small smile, “yes, wandering souls, they usually aren’t powerful enough to mess with anything in the physical realm though. You might be able to see them now since I’m here"

Taako really couldn’t imagine his life getting weirder than this, he really didn’t want to start seeing ghosts around too. “How can I even help you? I can’t fight if that’s what you're thinking of, have you seen me?!” Taako said and flopped back on his bed. He didn’t know which powers of fate had it out for him but he didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this.

“I can help you with that too! I promise you won’t be alone, and I’ll guide you through it. Listen just get me to these people and I’ll do most of the work” Kravitz said.

The sooner this Kravitz guy left the better. The sooner this weird stuff stopped happening to Taako the better. He just wanted things to go back to normal. “Fine I’ll help you.” He said begrudgingly, more and more it seemed like he didn’t actually have a choice.

Kravitz shoulders slumped in relief, "Thank you, Taako you have no idea how much I appreciate it.” He politely held his hand out again to shake on it, Taako was about to take it again but then he hesitated.

“If you mess with my dreams again, or like, throw me off a cliff or again I will have you exorcised"

“An exorcism won’t work but I get the sentiment, I promise I won’t do that again” Kravitz smiled, his hand still open. Taako didn’t know if he could trust him. He wondered if this was a trap and Kravitz was going to drag his soul back to wherever he came from as soon as Taako shook his hand.

He looked Kravitz in the eyes, although their blood-red colour was alarming they did look earnest. If he refused, then the guy might just stick around and really start haunting him.

_Fuck it_ he thought and Taako took his hand and they shook on it. It was still as solid and as icy as before.

As soon as their hands touched a quick searing pain passed through his head, but as soon as it appeared it was gone.

Taako rubbed his forehead, “What the fuck was that?”

He looked over at Kravitz and it was like he was another person. Taako didn’t notice before but Kravitz seemed more alive now. His dark complexion seemed warmer, his blood red eyes brighter and more alert, he even looked more solid and less ghostly. He looked energized.

“Sorry about that, hopefully the headaches will stop now that we made a deal. I feel a lot better now too!” Kravitz said cheerily. It was like he was new person with a new attitude, not the destitute ghost from a minute ago.

“A deal?”

“Yes, I need to make deals, it's how I can regain power. Y’know demon stuff. Our deal of ours will be enough to get me my body back” Kravitz answered.

“We made a deal?” Taako didn’t really think shaking on it was like, a _real thing_.

“Listen it’s not a bad deal, you help me with this and then you get a single wish when this is done” Kravitz answered and Taako was trying not to already regret his decision.

Kravitz stood up and brushed non-existent dust off his perfectly tailored suit, he reached out a hand to help Taako up.

“Well Taako, let's get started then” Kravitz grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only reason I got the chapter out today is because I have an assignment due tomorrow and I really really don't want to get it done lmao. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> What can I say I've been inspired by the spooky season!  
I have this outlined to be around 10 chapters or so, for updates or more TAZ stuff or to just say hi follow me on [tumblr](https://to-oth.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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